NFL Draft Profile: Matt Corral, Quarterback, Ole Miss Rebels

NFL draft profile scouting report for Ole Miss quarterback, Matt Corral

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#2
Pos: QB
Ht: 6015
Wt: 212
Hand: 0958
Arm: 3068
Wingspan: 7448
DOB: 1/31/99
Eligible: 2022
Ventura, CA
Long Beach Poly High School

Matt Corral
Ole Miss Rebels

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One-Liners

Elite competitive toughness as a thrower and runner with a great arm, tremendous pocket maneuverability and can attack all three areas of the field but needs to improve his ball placement and clean up his base to be a more consistent deep ball thrower.

Pros:

Matt Corral has improved every year as the Rebels quarterback and should hear his name called early in the 2022 draft. Corral has tremendous feel for maneuvering around in the pocket and while keeping his eyes downfield he gets low to slide up, back, or to the side to evade incoming defenders. He displays smooth and quick footwork to pivot and scan from one side of the field to the other and has a snappy release to get the ball out with pace. Corral shows a robotic level of perfection when executing run-pass-options in the short area of the field and generally has great accuracy to hit his receiver in stride, plus understands when to use velocity or touch on throws behind the line of scrimmage. Corral usually throws with a wide, balanced base and has sufficient energy transfer from his hip which helps him put plenty of velocity on throws over the middle of the field into tight windows. Corral is also an effective deep ball thrower and has a unique effectiveness when pump faking - he really dips his shoulder and makes his body look like he’s throwing, deceiving the defense and then connecting deep with his receiver on rainbow-like deep throws with good touch. Corral shows solid tempo when getting through his progressions in a normal drop back scenario and is very willing to take his checkdown, improving on his decision making from 2020 and not forcing throws. While Ole Miss doesn’t do it too often, Corral has also shown he can execute bootleg concepts well as he is very quick at working through his progressions and very accurate while on the run. In addition, Ole Miss is very aggressive on 4th downs and Corral has great situational awareness of what throws he can/cannot make to get the first. Corral exudes competitive toughness as he is willing to stand tall in the pocket and deliver a strike while taking a hit, not compromising his mechanics. Furthermore, he is a fearless runner who has good agility and elusiveness, plus runs with tenacity and physicality to ensure he earns every yard available.

Cons:

Corral has some minor issues in his game that are coachable and can take his play to the next level. Firstly, he could improve his ball placement to be more consistent and maximize yards-after-the-catch. This stems from his footwork being “heel-clicky” which makes it difficult to have great placement consistently. This issue also hurts Corral’s deep ball velocity and accuracy - occasionally he will underthrow his receiver and place the ball a few inches too far inside. In addition, Corral loves to “rainbow” his deep passes and needs to improve on when to use velocity rather than touch. Another aspect that has plagued Corral a bit is his occasional lack of feel for pressure from his blindside, leading to some devastating sacks. Finally, when moving onto his checkdown or schemed throws that “should” be open based on the concept (rub routes for example), Corral doesn’t always “check his work” to see how close the defender actually is.

Summary:

Matt Corral exudes competitive toughness as he stands tall in the pocket, is clutch on 3rd and 4th downs, plus is a fearless and physical runner. He can excel in a multitude of schemes, showing proficiency in the RPO+screen game, play-action vertical concepts, bootlegs and standard timing-based dropbacks. He has great but not elite arm strength and has tremendous pocket maneuverability while keeping his eyes downfield. Corral could have success early on if there is talent on his offense but would benefit most from sitting behind a veteran until he gets comfortable with the offense. Over time, he can be a franchise quarterback and Pro Bowl talent.

Background: 

Matt Corral attended Oaks Christian and Long Beach Poly in California where he accounted for over 11,000 yards and 123 TDs as a four-year starter. As a senior at Long Beach Poly he threw for 2,495 yards and 29 touchdowns. Corral was a U.S. Army All-America selection and rated 247Sports ranked him as a 4-Star recruit, the 63rd-best recruit nationally, the 4th-ranked pro-style quarterback recruit in the country and the 9th recruit in the state of California. Corral committed to Ole Miss and in 2018, he appeared in four games and was redshirted. In 2019, Corral made four starts and led the team with 1,362 passing yards and six touchdowns to three interceptions. He had a 59% completion rate and averaged 136 passing yards per game. In 2020, Corral started all 10 games and took a huge jump, completing 70% of his passes for 3,337 yards and 29 touchdowns. His great play was overshadowed in the media by two ugly games where he threw six interceptions vs Arkansas and five interceptions vs LSU. In 2021, Corral has played like the top quarterback in the nation through seven weeks, tallying 1,913 yards on 67% completion percentage and drastically improving his touchdown-to-interception ratio with 15:1. Corral is lauded for his off-field qualities such as his leadership and ability to connect with others, an extremely important trait for the quarterback position. Ole Miss head coach, Lane Kiffin, says of Corral, “Matt has done an unbelievable job, the way he played last week...if you’re around this kid, he is a special person, kid, leader. I just love being around him.” Furthermore, when adversity has struck, Corral has risen to the occasion. In their matchup vs Tennessee this year, after injuring his ankle and returning to the game, there was a delay because fans threw trash onto the field. This surprise could’ve sucked the momentum out of Ole Miss, but Corral rallied the troops by getting them focused, "(Just) keeping the main thing the main thing. You started to hear a little chatter, and then just talk about random stuff, what they were doing after the game, and that kind of set me off. So I brought them back, and then we just started warming up." In addition, Corral attributes his growth over his tenure at Ole Miss to his work ethic and a specific example is how he organized 5:30 a.m. meetings (before team practice) for the QB group, going over tape of themselves and opponents. Finally, an underrated storyline of Corral’s success in 2021 has been the adversity he has faced on the field, with multiple injuries to key players on offense. The Rebels have missed two of their starting receivers, the top two tight ends on their depth chart and have had multiple injuries to their offensive line, leading Kiffin to praise Corral’s ability to elevate the team, “He’s doing more on his own, carrying the team on his own.” 

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Grades

Current Player Value/Potential Player Value

7.6 / 8.8

Quotables

“I remember, it was August 18. I was in a depression my sophomore year of college. And I just didn’t understand why. I was still training, and it just felt like I was just going through the motions. It just felt like I was being stagnant. There was no purpose as to what I was doing. I just remember crying on the couch before my flight going home and just wondering why the heck I’m feeling like this. And I had that mindset of not taking no as an answer." That’s when my whole work ethic changed.” -- Matt Corral on his depression

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